The present invention relates to a height extension device for use on top of a low depth crate or tray for retaining and transporting containers. The extension increases the height of the crate or tray to more stably retain containers loaded therein without limiting the stacking and nesting abilities of the crate. The extension is especially well suited for use with bottle crates.
Bottles, particularly for soft drinks and other beverages, are often stored and transported during the distribution stages thereof in crates or trays. The term "crate" as used herein includes trays and similar containers having a bottom and peripheral sidewalls. These crates generally are configured to be stacked on top of each other when loaded with bottles. The crates also are configured to be nested together when empty of bottles. The crates provide advantages such as conservation of storage space are efficient, easy handling. In order to minimize the storage space of the crates when nested and to reduce cost and weight, many crates today are made with a shallow peripheral wall. These generally are referred to as "low depth" crates. Crates having a higher peripheral wall generally are referred to as "full depth" crates. "Full depth " crates stack on themselves empty or full of bottles, anything that uses the bottle for supporting the load is considered a "low depth" crate. Low depth crates are generally referred to as 1/4-depth, 1/3-depth, 1/2-depth, etc.
The sidewalls and internal supports and dividers of a full depth crate extend above the bottles within the crate and thus generally do not require the bottles to support any of the load. However, the nested heights of empty, stacked full depth crates is greater than that of low depth crates. Low depth crates also are generally less expensive and lighter in weight than similarly constructed full depth crates. Thus, low depth crates are used extensively.
Low depth bottle crates for PET plastic bottles of one, two or three liter capacity have generally been designed for traditionally shaped bottles having a straight-cylindrical body with tapering tops. An example of a known bottle crate is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,002 to Apps, et al, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
However, if a bottler uses taller bottles or bottles having different shapes, the known low depth bottle crates may not retain the bottles as stably as necessary for stacking and transporting loaded crates. Thus, for these taller or differently shaped bottles, it may be preferred to use a higher depth crate. However, replacing a bottler's supply of low depth crates with ones which accommodate the taller or differently shaped bottles would be very expensive and inefficient. For those bottles requiring a higher depth crate, it would be desirable to be able to convert a low depth crate to a higher depth crate. Thus, there is a need for a device for use with existing low depth crates which more stably retains taller or differently shaped bottles. The device also must not interfere with the stacking and nesting capabilities of the crates. The device also should be readily attachable and removable so that the crate can be easily converted to either a low depth or higher depth crate, as desired for a particular application.